Super Meier brothers

Kerry, Dylan put parents in awkward situation

On one hand, the Meier family can't help but have a lot of pride that two of the boys are starting quarterbacks in the Big 12 Conference - Kerry Meier at Kansas University and Dylan Meier at Kansas State.

But what should family members do Saturday, when the two in-state teams are both playing home games at the exact same time?

"They're going to try and split it up," Kerry said Tuesday at KU's weekly media session. "My mother will be at one and my father will probably be at the other."

Perhaps only a coin flip can determine this fairly.

Kerry, a red-shirt freshman, was picked as KU's starting quarterback during the spring. Dylan, a senior, had to wait until last weekend to hear he beat out freshman Josh Freeman for the Kansas State job.

Kansas University quarterback Kerry Meier is slated to start the Jayhawks' season opener against Northwestern State at 6 p.m. Saturday. His brother, Dylan, will start under center for Kansas State at the same time against Illinois State. Kerry Meier answered questions at Tuesday's KU football news conference.

It took awhile, but the storyline is finally in place. It certainly was thought of as a possibility from the time Kerry signed with Kansas in 2005 out of Pittsburg High. After Kerry red-shirted and Dylan sat out the '05 season because of a shoulder injury, it's for sure now: College football in Kansas will have the Meier brothers as the headline act.

"I just talked to (Dylan) last night," said Kerry, who's 21â2 years younger. "He was one excited fella. After taking that year off due to injury, he's worked as hard as ever to get back where he is right now."

The differences between the two are subtle, at best: both have shaggy blonde hair, both are dual-threat quarterbacks, and both are similar in stature and style.

They're not clones, but you can definitely tell they're brothers.

"Height-wise, I think I have an inch on him," Kerry said with a smirk. "He doesn't like to think that, but I think I got him."

Kerry is the baby of a football family. His oldest brother, Shad, played six seasons in the NFL, and another, Adam, played collegiately at Pittsburg State.

Such pedigree may have helped Kerry grow up fast on the football field. Teammates and coaches are hard-pressed to find anything bad to say about his talents on or off the record, despite him being a 19-year old who's last competitive game was the Kansas Shrine Bowl after his senior year at Pittsburg.

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Kerry Meier

"We had problems last year when players in the huddle didn't feel confident with the quarterback," running back Jon Cornish said. "That's not a problem this year."

Added KU coach Mark Mangino: "He is a diligent young man who works hard every day. He's not lacking anything, but all areas of his game will continue to improve just by the fact that he's a red-shirt freshman. There isn't part of his game that I believe is a detriment to our ball club."

Similar praises were passed to Dylan Meier by coach Ron Prince.

"We've been very pleased with how the team has responded to him, and we're expecting big things from him," Prince said. "We all know he's a can-do player, he's very tough and he's resilient, so we expect the team to play in that fashion."